Burnt Orange Report
News, Politics, and Fun From Deep in the Heart of Texas
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Burnt Orange ReportNews, Politics, and Fun From Deep in the Heart of Texas |
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July 22, 2005Run. Everywhere.By Karl-Thomas MusselmanI'm about to echo what has been said across the blogs the past day because it's an issue that has struck a chord with Texas Dems and needs to be set down as our standard for 2006. (Reference Kuff, Save Texas Reps, Eye on Williamson County, Et Cetera, and Greg) This conversation was initiated in large part because of comments made about SD 7 becoming an open seat and the reaction from "high powered consultant" Marc Campos who said this.
That's some "high powered crap" right there. A candidate running in SD7, regardless of what you may think the outcome may be, will give a reason for Democrats on the ground there to not only vote, but start to organize around whatever campaign is running and then going into the future, have ongoing organization that whalah!, builds our Party. Granted, there is a more limited pool of money on the Democratic side perceptually than there is over with the GOP. But the money raised for an SD7 battle, because of the nature of the district and any likely candidate, is going to come out of that district and not drain off of other Dems funding other targeted races. Let me give and example: much of the Texas Hill Country has been ignored for cycles. There has been little funding flowing out of it but in 2002 we had candidates run like John Courage in the old 21st and even a challenger to Carter Casteel back then, which spurred the first wave of new donors out of that area in a long time. And guess what, they're still around and may be willing to fund other races or the party like my family has for instance. And who are Chris Bell, and Radnofsky, and Van Os going to go out and see in Lampasas in early September? An 800 person picnic extravaganza with Democrats, organizers, and donors coming from the 21 counties of the Hill Country from Fredericksburg to Abilene, Menard to Killeen. Hell, I'm here blogging today because John Courage inspired me two and a half years ago to stand outside of the Gillespie County Courthouse on a chilly November night handing out his campaign material in the reddest of towns with my now elected father. And that happened without moving the Democratic totals from beyond that "severe ass whipping" 25% mark. If we are honestly worried about lost filing fees being the reason for defeat for other candidates, then we have some serious problems as a Party, because it shows a lack of vision beyond the parochial and a lack of foresight beyond the next election day. Letting grassroots candidates run in some of the more 'hopeless' districts is the cheapest way the Party can help build itself and push out its message to people who otherwise will never hear or see from an actual Party operative in the next decade. I think it's worth it. Let people run. Everywhere. P.S. Campos appears poised to tell all us bloggers to run for office if we're so hot on it. Note to Mr. High Powered Consultant, we already are. So remind me when you're filing again? Comments
Oh come on...... Let's be honest, Joh Courage got his ass kicked running for Congress and for Bexar County Democratic Chair. He's running in an overwhelingly Republican seat against a very, very popular incumbent who will win. Period. And your fahter ran for a non-partisan office in a non-partisan election. The truth is that is he had been running for a local office with a "D" by his name, the results might have been very, very different. I'm reminded by my Mother about the time when Herb Schaefer was the Republican Bexar County District Clerk. He was a decent fellow. But the fool Republicans were dumb enough to run a candidate against Henry B. Gonzalez and Henry probably turned out 10,000 voters from his district who probably wouldn't have voted if Gonzalez had not worked so hard. Schaefer lost re-election. You simply cannot run people without considering the consequences of other candidates on the ballot. If Lamar Smith turns out Republicans who normally only vote every four years, that will will obviously have unintended impact on other Democrats running in the area. The fact is that Lamart Smith can spend $2-3 million if he wants and have a turnout machine that cannot be matched. It is naive and immature to ignore this. Posted by: Terri at July 22, 2005 04:58 PMHell, let's give up Texas for good. Why sit around defending our last bubbles of blue under siege by the great red masses when we could just flee altogether? Ain't no use sending reinforcements to those Democrats stranded in red districts and we wouldn't want to stir any GOP hornet nests anyhow. Just let them be and we'll tuck tail and run. Wouldn't want to scare them voters with our ideas to improve Texas neither. We all know once you start voting GOP you can't change your mind. Maybe if we sit real still and just keep real quiet-like, they won't hear us Democrats hiding. We'll sneak out the back door and high tail it to Oregon or one of them yankee states. I hear it's cold up there... Or, maybe we're Texans. And maybe we have a tradition of standing our ground in the face of the opposition when the odds are set against us. And maybe, just maybe with a bit of leadership, bravery and creativity we can actually start taking our state back. I don't expect you'll be marching into that battle Terri, but I wouldn't want you there anyhow. As for the rest of you, I have a little project called Step Up Texas. Let's start recruiting and supporting some good Democrats to run for EVERY office in Texas. Posted by: Step Up Texas at July 22, 2005 05:46 PMKarl's right. We should challenge every office. In the end, the higher the turnout the higher our chances of winning are. Posted by: David at July 22, 2005 06:48 PMMr. High Powered Consultant is nothing of the sort. The good news is that the more he shoots his mouth off, more people will realize that giving the man money is a gigantic waste of resources that can be used funding grassroots efforts in electing real Democrats to office. Candidates - save your money. Do not hire Marc Campos! Posted by: Marie at July 22, 2005 07:25 PMSpeaking of John Courage, he's running again this year, and since I'm in the district represented by Delay lackey, Lamar Smith, I'm glad John is running! Posted by: Mgleaf at July 23, 2005 10:09 PMJust a short note-I am glad that John Courage is running for several reasons. 1. I am building a home in that district as we speak and I would be proud to have John as my Congressman 2. My kids deserve an honest congressman. 3. Lamar Smith is ethically bankrupt, even if he can put up 2-3 million dollars. Remember, Al Capone was rich when his corrpution caught up with him.Make no mistake, being a congressman has been a great employment for Lamar Smith. The only problem is that Texans suffered while he cozied up to Tom Delay. Remember that we are fifteen months from an election. A lot could happen. Are you willing to bet that the Republican corrpution that is finally really coming to light is going to go unpunished? John is a man of courage, decency and honesty (I almost forgot to add intelligence). These are the characteristics that we ought to demand of our representatives and they are the very characteristics that Lamar Smith lacks. I have already told John that I will serve as his precinct captain in my precinct and I encourage everyone in this district to do the same, whether it is John or your own local D's. We spent a lot of the money making the voter file the great tool that it is. Call me at 512-478-9800 when you are ready to go to work. Thanks, Charles Soechting, Chair, Texas Democratic Party Posted by: charles soechting at July 23, 2005 10:16 PM90 percent of success is just showing up. There is no way that the Dems will ever find their way out of the wilderness in Texas if they don't show up to contest races. Contesting SD-7, CD-21, CD-10, and other races denies the R's any safe, uncontested races and offers aid and comfort to other Dems running in those areas. A Dem running for SD-7 gives the Dems living in the district and other Dems thinking of running, such as Jim Coranado for the 3d Court of Appeals, someone to rally around and work in cooperation with. Mr. Campos may believe that appeasing the R's by not running candidates may buy "peace in our time" but I don't buy it for a minute. Jeb Posted by: Jeb at July 25, 2005 11:33 AMMore compelling (in that it completely avoids any discussion of recruiting philosophy whatsoever), we NEED the filing fees to be PAID by candidates! The filing fees stay within the Party -- they help pay to run the primary; there's a formula for how they get allocated among the County Party organizations in each district to pay for the primary. The lack of down-ballot filing fees is one of the most clear indications of an expensive and unfulfilling primary.... For the record, I'm about 80% of the way along the ballot-coverage spectrum: I believe ballot coverage is important, but that candidates should meet SOME minimum threshhold (like, not being patently offensive in appearance and/or smell most of the time) before encouraging them to run. Posted by: Spud at July 25, 2005 03:47 PMPost a comment
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